As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Most computer systems include a basic input output system (BIOS) that provides an interface between the operating system kernel and the underlying hardware. The kernel is the portion of the operating system that is closest to the application system. The kernel is responsible, typically, for process control, memory management, file management, and peripheral support. The BIOS provides boot services and run time services to the operating system. Examples of run time services are interrupts, ACPI, SMBIOS, and power management.
BIOS is firmware for a computer, such as a personal computer (PC) or a server, that is responsible for initializing when it is first switched on or reset. The major task of the BIOS is to load and begin execution of the operating system that is normally stored on the computer's hard disk. The BIOS also provides a low level interface to the peripheral devices of the computer system. The BIOS is stored in a non-volatile memory that can be updated, or in a read-only memory (ROM).
A BIOS configuration can store parameters that affect the operation of the computer. For example, the BIOS configuration can include the boot order of storage devices. Additionally, some parameters can affect the performance of the operating system. The PC can have a feature or mode of operation that is not supported by the operating system and the feature can be disabled. However, another operating system may support the feature and realize a performance benefit when the feature is enabled. A default value can be chosen for the configuration and, depending on the operating system selected by a user, the default value may either improve or adversely affect performance of the computer. Often, the user is not aware of the feature or does not know how the feature will affect performance. Additionally, the user can change the operating system, or the operating system can be updated to support the feature, and the user can be unaware that the configuration should change.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.